My Husband Doesn't Want Me To Go For Family Planning

Editorial Team

I’m 35 years old and I have 6 children all in the span of 10 years aged 9, 7, 6, 4, 2 years old. My last child is 4 months old. The labor for this last child was particularly so difficult and I was advised not to have any other children if I loved myself. I was also educated on the available family planning methods.

I have tried to discuss this with my husband and he doesn’t even want to hear me out, he says he doesn’t want me to go for family planning because God will only give us as many children as we can take care of. I’m scared of getting pregnant again but I also need my husband’s approval.

Family planning is the practice of controlling the number of children in a family and the intervals between their births. Family planning also involves consideration of the number of children a woman wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, as well as the age at which she wishes to have them.

Family planning allows individuals to attain their desired number of children and determine the spacing of pregnancies and this is achieved through the use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of infertility.

Family planning is very important in securing the well-being and independence of women while supporting the health and development of communities. The benefits of family planning are as follows:

Helps to prevent pregnancy-related health risks in women

Helps to reduce infant mortality

Helps to reduce maternal mortality

Helps people to make informed decisions about their reproductive health

Helps to empower women

Helps to regulate population growth

It is important to know that access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right and also a reproductive right.

According to WHO, Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of their reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion, and violence.

Women's reproductive rights may include some or all of the following: the right to birth control, freedom from coerced sterilization and contraception, the right to access good-quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make free and informed reproductive choices.